storytelling and science

Storytelling and Science

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Whether it is your friend telling an engaging tale, a good movie or an interesting novel, we all love to hear a good story. Stories are an inherent part of our lives and have been so since pre-historic times. Our ancestors sat around fire to listen to stories that today are the folklore. Stories help us shape our lives and we tell stories about our lives.


Stories help us communicate better. They also help us retain more information than facts or figures. So, why are, humans, so attracted to stories? What makes stories tick in this ever changing world? There is science behind why stories work.

When we hear a story, it shapes our thoughts. The processing part of our brain that deals with languages gets activated. It also creates images that help you understand and retain the information told through a story. It helps people understand science concepts, opens the mind and opens new possibilities. These images that are created in our brains are processed quicker than texts or facts and hence are more easily memorized.


When our brains are presented with facts, two major parts of the brain gets activated –Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area. Here we decode words and decipher its meanings. Logic, facts, data and fractions – all these rational concepts are not easy for your brain to comprehend. When you blindly present the facts, it takes time for the brain to process the information. They can be a bit overwhelming for the brain as it first stores these information in short term memory before moving it into the long term.

On the other hand, when you tell your data or facts through a story, multiple regions in your brain gets activated. Your olfactory cortex is stimulated when you hear about smell, visual cortex when you hear about or see shapes and colors. Sounds activate the auditory cortex, movement stimulates motor cortex and touch, sensation and texture activate sensory cortex.

How our brain comprehends facts and fiction?

On the other hand, when you tell your data or facts through a story, multiple regions in your brain gets activated. Your olfactory cortex is stimulated when you hear about smell, visual cortex when you hear about or see shapes and colours. Sounds activate the auditory cortex, movement stimulates motor cortex and touch, sensation and texture activate sensory cortex.

When we hear or watch a story, we relate it to our earlier experiences. These experiences help us retain information we learn through story. Any story makes our brain search for previous experiences that help us relate to the story. It activates insular that invokes the same feeling we already have experienced. The fact is that any we hear, we look for a cause and effect relationship with something we have already experienced. This makes story more relatable and comprehendible.


When people hear words, the language processing of brain – Broca’s and Wernicke’s get activated. It does not concur with any image in the brain. Conversely, as discussed earlier, stories apart from activating the language part of the brain also stimulates all other sensory areas. When you hear or read about an action, the motor cortex gets activated and relates with movements you already have seen heard or performed. In short, stories in any form works better. The brain never distinguishes between listening, watching or reading story to actually experiencing in real life. The same set of areas gets activated in both the cases.

When people hear words, the language processing of brain – Broca’s and Wernicke’s get activated. It does not concur with any image in the brain.

Conversely, as discussed earlier, stories apart from activating the language part of the brain also stimulates all other sensory areas. When you hear or read about an action, the motor cortex gets activated and relates with movements you already have seen heard or performed. In short, stories in any form works better. The brain never distinguishes between listening, watching or reading story to actually experiencing in real life. The same set of areas gets activated in both the cases.

When you hear a story, we retain or remember a major portion of facts. We are hard-wired to understand stories better than logic. Stories move us and take us through a journey that helps us relate to them and helps our brain understand and retain information. It also influences to take action.


Science and StorytellingThis doesn’t mean your scientific information – data and

figures should not be a part of your story. In fact, they add credibility to your story. When you weave the facts into stories, it invokes emotion as well as stimulates the intellect of the audience. They also help to share the different perspectives of the storyteller and the audience. Both the storyteller and the audience experience the same kind of emotions but have different previous experiences that they relate to the objects in the story.

When it comes to science, the usual approach of storytelling we use does not necessarily work with science. This especially holds true when you communicate it to people of non-science background. However, teaching science with a story when done correctly can work very well. Science story has a definite purpose.

Apart from the intent purpose of entertaining and putting across the message to the audience, science stories also aim to help the audience learn the scientific teachings and make them ask and answer questions related to the evidences based on the science.

Basically, scientific stories should intrigue the audience and make them dwell into deeper information. It should make the audience ask questions about science. When telling science through stories, do not shy away from divulging as much details as possible. The more relatable the stories are, the more they get through to the audience. Identify possible emotional carters and include them in the story. Use all the story fixtures possible to tell the appropriate story. To shape your scientific story, and incidents that shaped the scientific explanation. As a narrator, you have the power to make or break the story. You choose what should be included and what need not be a part of the story. In a scientific story, apart from the incidents around the story that needs to be covered, you need to talk about facts. Facts are, in fact the central aspect of a scientific story. The facts in the story should flow in sequence.

Communicating through a storyIt is important that stories should be interesting.

However, in telling stories, one should not ignore the facts that make up the story. The focus of the stories should remain scientific facts but they should just use fiction as a medium to communicate them.

Our brains process emotions better and this motivates to understand the facts. The drama is the essence of story. The challenges, discoveries, threats make up the story and for this reason science can work well using storytelling. Stories have recognizable structures that our brains can identify. Facts and scientific data can be communicated using engaging narratives – that’s why stories and science blend together to encourage the audience, draw conclusions and open their mind.

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